SotB XXXIX: Frozen Assets
The Broker's agents return to the frigid world of Corfai to aid a friend imperiled by Imperial intrigue. Agents Session 1 * Alro * Chimagura (chim chim) * Hack * Makren Duvel * (Rogesh) * Saber Scintel * Uris-vay Session 2 Recording for Session 2 * Derra Asbra * Eve * Gerold * Gristle * Jokan Benn * Tortie Mission Report Summary by Ben While sifting through some mail and forming some new fake identities, Gristle and Gerold find a piece of junk mail offering a luxurious vacation to Corfai, a snowy resort planet that the Broker’s agents have visited once before. However, somewhere in the message’s signal, there is a hidden embedded transmission from Avadrie Norz. She requests the agents’ help in unfreezing the accounts of Fjorn Pansar in order to use the funds to fuel the Rebellion’s efforts. An invitation to her private estate is offered, where she will be hosting an Imperial Grand Financier, as well as the entire cast of the holonet program Captain COMPNOR. There is no listed reward, and it’s clear that she is under a lot of pressure from the Imperials. Despite the suspicious nature of the job, Jokan is convinced that they should lend their aid at the upcoming dinner. In preparation, the crew suits up into disguises in order to move around the estate more easily. They also utilize some fabricated identities, with Gristle and Gerold being the more noble types and the others being their bodyguards or servants. Gristle assumes the identity of Baron Kasto Quistelzamine, a more grounded noble from Uvena Prime, and Jokan poses as his assistant Cradzane O’Dougan. Gerold poses as Captain Vict Vigil of CorSec, and Tortie is brought in as his sidekick, Sergeant Torr. Derra and Eve disguise themselves as an ambassador from the Chiss Ascendancy and her bodyguard, respectively. In their pairs, they head to Corfai individually, with Jokan and Gristle arriving first, a day ahead of the event. Although they’re searched, the two are able to dodge most of the shakedown and even dodge the hefty registration fee by calling the corrupt officer on his practices. Once on-planet, they meet back up and head to the estate a day ahead of the date indicated in Avadrie’s message. They are told that only bodyguards are allowed to possess weapons, but they must first be registered with a hefty, refundable fee. Each bodyguard clears something, and Gristle explains away his staff of office. Once inside, they immediately meet with Avadrie and Ulf, who take them to a conference room and jams any potentially listening devices before addressing the group, telling them that Captain COMPNOR had already arrived and that they should participate in the upcoming events in order to deepen their cover. She has a feeling that the Imperials, particularly Captain COMPNOR, have something sinister planned for the next few days and wants the agents to thwart whatever they might have in store. She grants the agents access to all of the estate’s security features for the purpose of surveillance and counteracting any threats. After their meeting, the agents find the aforementioned actors surrounded by fans and waving them off ahead of the Servant’s Night festivities coming up. The agents agree to share the responsibility of monitoring the Imperials between each of the pairs. The celebration itself involves numerous events in which the estate’s servants participate, including dances and singing. Eve, Jokan and Derra participate in one of the dances that involved kicking a hat off of a pole. They all do well enough to earn some favor from the locals, and Gristle spends the meantime endearing himself to the spectators by playing the woefully uncool but well-meaning noble. Gerold and Tortie spend the time monitoring COMPNOR and his friends, waiting for their shift on the party floor. Gristle, Derra and Eve participate in some riddles with a group of teenagers and, while they get themselves laughed at more than anything, they still manage to curry some further favor with the younger generation. From there, Eve goes on to tell the legend of Fjorn to a group of nearby adults who are sharing ghost stories among themselves. Outside the party, Gerold and Tortie spot Captain COMPNOR in his quarters talking to his young co-star and browsing an article about Corfai on a datapad. However, Tortie finds that the footage has been set on a loop, and as he looks to the other security cameras, he sees the feeds ripple with interference. Gerold calls into the security chief to warn him. The chief is reluctant, but Gerold shows him his CorSec badge, and that seems sufficient to gain his help. The two split off to check out some of the disturbances, but Gerold and Tortie run into two of the Captain COMPNOR cast members on the way. They exchange pleasantries, but Gerold can tell that they’re stalling, and he succeeds in passing them off and heading to the library with Tortie. They try to tap into the local feeds, but don’t catch anything out of the ordinary. However, out of the corner of his eye, Tortie catches some movement by one of the nearby shelves. Gerold calls in the suspicion and Gristle and Jokan head out from the party to check out one of the other security concerns while Eve and Derra head out to back up Gerold and Tortie in the library. While they’re en route, Tortie calls out to the blip he’d seen and Captain COMPNOR himself emerges with the story that he’d been in the library reading. Just as Eve and Derra arrive, so do six stormtroopers. They scold him for being without his guards and begin to take him away, but Tortie calls him on the stealth field, earning a dirty look. The two recognize each other, however. Tortie matches face to that of Kal, a bounty hunter, and Captain COMPNOR recognizes Tortie. At the other end of the estate, Jokan and Gristle head into the conference room where one of the ripples had been spotted, and Gristle sees a shimmer in the corner. Jokan throws a pen at it, and another Captain COMPNOR reveals himself. Immediately, another squad of escort stormtroopers shows up to take him away, but as he’s departing, Gristle decides to give him a parting lick to the face, but can’t detect anything strange from the taste or feel. However, the captain does seem taken aback and blushes as he retreats with the troopers. Jokan and Gristle then set about searching the room. They find two hidden listening devices, and just as the chief of security arrives, they turn them over and explain that they are undercover security hired by Avadrie. The captain is concerned about not being told and calls it in to Avadrie herself, but understands and takes the extracted bugs before departing with his security crew. In the library, the other agents sweep for bugs and find some among the bookshelves, one of which seems to have been placed much earlier than the others. Gristle calls into Avadrie with concerns about her security captain’s allegiance. The team meets up again to analyze some of the listening devices. They find that the old one has been active for over a month, but can’t manage to trace where it may have originated. The newer one, on the other hand, is transmitting directly to Captain COMPNOR’s room. The agents call in to Avadrie to tell her, deliberately avoiding further interaction with the security chief just in case. There will be a dinner tomorrow, and it’s decided that the best approach would be for Avadrie to sit tight and wait out the events while remaining as public as possible to avoid potential moves by the Imperials. As the night draws to a close, Tortie and Gerold meet with the security chief and some of his officers in the security hub and share some drinks while they monitor the estate’s activity. Gerold pulls the chief aside to ask him about Avadrie and detects that he doesn’t exactly view her favorably, especially in comparison to her father, whom he seems to revere. The next day, the agents attend the dinner along with Captain COMPNOR and his crew members. Fjorn Pansar is also present, as well as his adopted daughter Novalie. Valt and Inga Alstrom also attend, but Novalie doesn’t seem to like them. As soon as they arrive, they immediately go to speak to the Imperials and the Empire Day celebration proceeds normally until around noon. The crowd breaks into cheers, and a mass of snowtroopers suddenly march up toward the estate and turn, stopping to introduce the Grand Financier, Davin Loor. Some of the agents are able to mask their disgust during the round of cheering, but others aren’t so subtle. Regardless, those posing as nobles are soon whisked away to a private dinner that only the most esteemed guests have been invited to. The nobles assembled in the dining room, and Gristle ends up in a seat next to Captain COMPNOR himself. As the meal begins, the other attendees start to discuss their own personal business, especially where the frozen accounts of Fjorn Pansar are concerned. The Alstroms really lay into Ulf, Avadrie’s husband, and begin subtly insulting him, his character and his business ventures. The agents interject in his defense and proceed to aid him in deftly avoiding the verbal jabs. The two parties take turns attempting to convince the Grand Financier to unfreeze the Pansar accounts, but as the negotiations draw to a close, dessert comes. Everyone who partakes suddenly falls ill, including Gristle, who immediately injects himself with an antivenom as he recognizes the poison as raquor venom. Just then, the door bursts open and a squad of armed individuals enter, demanding that everyone stand down. Valt Alstrom is immediately shot, and as Gristle goes to help him, the leader of the terrorists demands that he stop, and when Gristle keeps moving to aid the downed man, he’s shot as well. The terrorists begin making demands for a million credits, or else they will execute more of the hostages. Outside, the bodyguards notice a togruta and human conversing nearby. Jokan and Tortie recognize them as Kii and Rogesh in disguise. They come together, and the other two agents explain that the Broker had instructed them to help the rebels in assassinating the Grand Financier. Tortie convinces them that the Broker has retracted the order and has prioritized helping out Avadrie and the Pansar family. Inside the dining hall, Gristle convinces the Grand Financier to end the stalemate before it gets any bloodier, and the rebels retreat with Barrett as a hostage before making it to their ship and dumping him. As they take off, Imperial ships pursue and blast them from the sky. Back on the ground, the Grand Financier thanks Gristle for helping and offers a personal payout for his services. With their undercover reputations intact, the team lays low while the situation cools down before extracting and heading back to the safehouse. SotB 039